Rick Daugherty, Jackson Eaton face off for third time at Muhlenberg College.

In a civil debate where the candidates agreed on many issues, Democrat Rick Daugherty on Tuesday night zeroed in on the recent decision of his opponent in the congressional primary, Jackson Eaton, to join the Democratic Party.

Daugherty, a two-term chairman of the Lehigh County Democrats, said that just a few years ago Eaton asked Lehigh Valley Republican Congressman Charlie Dent — whom they want to unseat — for a recommendation to a committee headed by Rep. Darrell Issa, a "sworn enemy of President Obama."

"That is a stark difference between the two of us," Daugherty said. "My running for Congress and my being a Democrat has nothing to do with me needing a job, my needing a title or anything like that. It only has to do with what I have always done in my life: trying to help people."

Eaton, who has worked for Democrats and changed his party registration in November, said he has never made any secret of once being a Republican but his beliefs — including his support of the Affordability Care Act, financial regulatory reform and abortion rights — line up more with Democrats.

"I didn't leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left me. The Republican Party has gone too far to the right," Eaton said.

The pointed exchange came at the end of an hour-long forum sponsored by the Muhlenberg College Democrats. The event drew more than 100 people to Seegers Union at the Allentown college.

The debate, moderated by Muhlenberg political science professor Chris Borick, was the last of three to be held before the April 24 primary in the 15th District. The newly drawn district stretches about 100 miles from east to west. It will include all of Lehigh County and parts of Northampton, Berks, Lebanon and Dauphin counties.

Eaton and Daugherty are vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Dent, a four-term congressman, in the fall.

While they agreed on preserving Medicare and creating jobs, each used his background to make his case for why he is the better candidate.

Eaton, 34, introduced himself as someone who tried to do everything right, serving in the Army for four years and obtaining a law degree, but, like others across the country, was laid off in 2008 as the economy tanked. He got temporary jobs, such as counsel to the presidential commission on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

He said he understands the uncertainty that people face in this economy and has a "Day 1 jobs bill" to introduce that would call for $50 billion in infrastructure improvements: deficient bridges, leaky water mains and other projects.

"We need to be investing right now in these infrastructure projects because we're going to have to do it sooner or later," Eaton said. "And why not do it now when we have unemployed laborers, unemployed engineers, unemployed construction workers who can go to work doing these projects?"

Daugherty, 51, said there are similar bills already introduced in Congress and he would work behind the scenes to make sure they are passed.

But, more than infrastructure projects, Daugherty said Congress has to get a better handle on "unfair trade agreements" like the North American Free Trade Agreement. Manufacturing jobs, he said, are shipped overseas and the world is not more stable for it.

"Part of the rationale behind NAFTA was that Mexico would be a prosperous, more stabilized nation," Daugherty said. "It is another example of how, in my view, these trade agreements have never lived up to their expectations — with other countries and certainly not in our own."

Eaton pointed out one of the biggest contrasts in the primary is that he "pro-choice" and Daugherty is "pro-life."

Daugherty agreed, but added he would be bound by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that says it's an individual decision as to when life begins.